How the Moon Was Made

Visual sources include third-party material incorporated into custom animations. License information is reproduced from source records; an unrecorded license does not mean a work is public domain.

• FullMoon2010

  Gregory H. Revera

  View original source ↗CC BY-SA 3.0

  Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

• Canup and Asphaug 2001, Figure 1 — canonical giant-impact simulation sequence

  Robin M. Canup and Erik Asphaug

  View original source ↗Copyrighted material — used for documentary commentary

  Editorial use; no open license asserted.

• Mountains of the Moon

  NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

  View original source ↗NASA media usage guidelines; often public-domain U.S. government work, verify item-specific restrictions.

• imagesapollo20190724aldrin20190724 .width 1320 image

  NASA

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• APOLLO XV - LUNAR SAMPLE (NO. 15415 - "GENESIS ROCK)

  JSC

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• image

  CAS

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• Scientific figure · source page 3

  Fischer et al.

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  Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

  Editorial use; no open license asserted.

• Image result for query 'Moon forming impact simulation Kegerreis Canup synestia scientific figure'; source host: link.springer.com; file: 11214_2022_876_Fig6_HTML.png.

  Creator credit under review

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  Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

• New Supercomputer Simulation Sheds Light on Moon’s Origin

  NASA's Ames Research Center

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  Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

• Image result for query 'NASA lunar sample 60025 ferroan anorthosite Apollo 16 high resolution'; source host: lpi.usra.edu; file: 60025_S72-44019.jpg.

  USRA

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• Image result for query 'LLVP seismic tomography Africa Pacific mantle blobs scientific visualization'; source host: nature.com; file: 43017_2021_160_Fig2_HTML.png.

  Nature

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• Image result for query 'LLVP seismic tomography Africa Pacific mantle blobs scientific visualization'; source host: qianyuan-geo.weebly.com; file: 4-edward_garnero.jpeg.

  Weebly

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• imagesapollo20190724reflector20190724 .width 1320 image

  NASA

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• The Apollo 15 Lunar Laser Ranging Retroreflector - A Fundamental Point on the Moon

  NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

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Research references

Selected sources from the episode’s research and scientific figures.

1. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JE005098 ↗
2. DOI: 10.1038/35089010 ↗
3. https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.02045 ↗
4. https://authors.library.caltech.edu/records/2vaje-qnn35 ↗
5. https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/475492main_HEP_II_MS_7.pdf ↗
6. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1063037 ↗
7. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1429 ↗
8. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aad0525 ↗
9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-020-0550-0 ↗
10. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11670184/ ↗
11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.12.026 ↗
12. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14355 ↗
13. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JE006312 ↗
14. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JE005333 ↗
15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2025.119697 ↗
16. https://arxiv.org/abs/2210.01814 ↗
17. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf2084 ↗
18. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10289 ↗
19. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08231-0 ↗
20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2025.119592 ↗
21. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL106118 ↗
22. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1226919 ↗
23. https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/samples/atlas/images/hires/60025/60025_S72-42187.jpg ↗
24. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/moon/genesis-rock/ ↗
25. https://moon.nasa.gov/system/downloadable_items/18_15415.pdf ↗
26. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20060051776/downloads/20060051776.pdf ↗
27. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40014691/ ↗
28. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09131-7 ↗
29. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60743-z ↗
30. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06589-1 ↗
31. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24013776.v1 ↗
32. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-39827-3 ↗
33. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54416-6 ↗
34. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/the-apollo-experiment-that-keeps-on-giving/ ↗
35. https://doi.org/10.1088/1538-3873/aceb2f ↗
36. https://tmurphy.physics.ucsd.edu/apollo/basics.html ↗
37. https://doi.org/10.1038/361615a0 ↗
38. https://www.osti.gov/pages/biblio/1537327 ↗
39. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ↗

Music

• Meditation From The Star Orion
  OctahedronMusic · Envato Elements